In our Prep School Chapel Service this morning Fr. Colin started by saying: “I’m very excited, the money I gave to three students is coming back today.” Fr. Colin gave three students money to invest to raise money for the Chapel Project.  The fundraising challenge was based on the Parable of the Talents (see below). 

The results were incredible:

Annabel Powell, from Year 6 received £10 and made a profit of £167. Annabel received a standing ovation for making the most profit.

Archie Williams, from Year 7 received £20 and made a profit of £78.

Alex Ford, from Year 8 received £30 and made a profit of £100.

Our Director of Finance, Andrew Golding came to the Service to receive the money raised and to congratulate the students.

Each student chose a different fundraising idea.  Alex Ford sold raffle tickets to win cinema tickets, Daisy Dace won.  Archie Williams did a guess the celebrity for 50p, Harry Wheeler won and received £25.  Annabel did a guess the number of sweets in the jar competition and sold handmade Valentine’s Day cards.

Fr. Colin spoke about what community means and said: “It’s fantastic to see the amount of effort everyone went to and to see how our community responded for the chapel.  I’m deeply moved by the amount of money raised.  Thank you to everyone for your support.”

He added: “So the point is that this story explains something of the Kingdom of God.  Giving the pupils money wasn’t about setting them up in competition, or doing it as a test to see how well they would do – it was an opportunity for them to shine, to use their gifts to bring our community together for a cause they felt was important.  They did it an abundance.” 

This stop motion animation video on YouTube explains the Parable of the Talents

Parable of the Talents

Fr. Colin explained the Parable: "A parable is a type of story Jesus would tell to explain something of the Kingdom of God, and often they had more than one meaning.  This story is about talents which were a large amount of money in Biblical times; equivalent to about 15 years’ salary!  A talent can also mean our gifts or abilities, something special and amazing God gives just to you.

 

The parable starts like this:  A man decided to go on a long trip, so he called his servants and asked them to take care of his house, his stuff and his money. Keep in mind that the man in this story is like God and the man's servants are God's people. The man in this story trusted his servants and believed that they would take care of his special and valuable things.  The man decided to give one servant five talents of money, to another he gave two talents and to the last servant he gave one talent.  He gave each servant the amount he thought they could handle or according to their ability.  The man left on his trip and the servants each did something with the money that they received.

The man with the five talents went right away and used his money and got five more!  The man with the two talents also used his money wisely and gained two more talents.  But the man with one talent took his talent and buried it in the ground to keep the money safe.  He didn't even try to do something with it. 

After a nice long trip, the master came back and wanted to know what his servants did with his money.  The first man with the five talents said, "You trusted me with five talents and I made five more!"

His master smiled and replied, "Great job, good and faithful servant!"  You are trustworthy with a few things so I will put you in charge of lots of things.  Come celebrate with me!

Then the man with the two talents came and said, "You trusted me with two talents and I made two more!"

His master smiled and replied, "Great job, good and faithful servant!"  You are trustworthy with a few things so I will put you in charge of lots of things.  Come celebrate with me!

Then the man who received the one talent came and told his master, "I know you work hard for your money, so I was afraid to lose any of it.  I decided to bury it and keep it safe.  Here is your one talent back."

The master was not impressed and said, You lazy servant!  At the very least you could've taken the money to the bank and you would've at least collected some interest from it."

He immediately took the talent away from the man and gave it to the first man who used his money to make more.

The point Jesus was trying to make is that we shouldn't bury the blessings God has given us in the ground.  They shouldn’t be kept to ourselves but should be used for the benefit of the world around us.  The challenge is always how we respond to what God has given us."